


Confidential Files

by no_protocol



Series: Forgetting & Remembering [2]
Category: The Murderbot Diaries - Martha Wells
Genre: Gen, Trigger warning: loss of control
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-10
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-17 10:36:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29965092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/no_protocol/pseuds/no_protocol
Summary: Murderbot infiltrates a construct repair facility to steal some files.
Series: Forgetting & Remembering [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2206023
Comments: 8
Kudos: 36





	Confidential Files

I stared at the repair technician with the same intensity SecUnits usually reserved for their clients. With my governor module fully active, there was nothing else _I could do._ Having half-assed my job for thousands of hours, doing it properly felt… unreal and frustrating.

ART was hanging around in my feed, hidden from the technician and the rest of the facility, but still its usual asshole self. It was actually kind of reassuring. _Are you all right?_

 _Fine._ Truthfully, I would feel much better if we didn’t have to do this but oh well, story for another time.

The technician, meanwhile, was discussing data interpretation with another employee who wore a business suit and looked like she had better places to be. “Pull all the diagnostics you can from this one and send them to my lab. I have a researcher standing by to examine them.”

“Yes, ma’am,” the nervous tech mumbled.

The woman left the room as soon as the words left the tech’s mouth. I could hear her shoes clicking in the corridor. She had barely exited then room when the technician slouched in his chair and rubbed his eyes. He was low-grade labor, probably not paid enough to deal with the higher-ups.

“Well, let’s see what we’ve got,” the man said. “I’m just going to run a few tests, little bot. This might sting a little, but don’t worry, you’ll be all right.”

Being called a little bot was disconcerting, but it wasn’t the worst thing said to my face. Not by a wide margin. I could feel ART nervously hovering in my feed. It was also worming its way — or more likely battering its way — through the repair facility’s systems. But it needed me here as an anchor in order to access the air-gapped systems in the facility.

Suddenly, a burst of electrical current rushed down my spine. Waves of hot agony followed, and I struggled to remain upright. The pain didn’t linger because the technician didn’t want to cause any serious damage. But it still felt like molten lead in my organic parts.

“Now, let’s run a few diagnostics.” The technician fiddled with his display surface, tapping at it rapidly. “You’re doing great, little bot. SecUnits are so easy to work with.”

If I could roll my eyes, I would have. But I didn’t want to give my governor module anything to gripe about. Not when its previous attempt still stung.

 _Are you all right?_ ART asked again. It sounded worried this time around and it had toned down its sarcasm.

 _I_ _’ve had worse,_ I told it. Perhaps I was reassuring myself. _Just finish what we came for so we can leave again._

 _Working on it,_ ART promised.

_I know, asshole, I know._

The human technician stared at the screen as he blindly reached for a bag of crunchy vegetable snacks. I could hear him chewing on its contents. He had shoved a connector cable into my data port and was downloading data from my short-term memory through it. It was hard talking to ART and keeping that conversation out of the tech’s logs at the same time.

The human turned on some music, said, “These look good, SecUnit. You did great. Now let’s get you back to your cubicle. I’ll add some anesthetic to the resupply feeds, I bet that will make you feel better.” He stopped chewing, shrugged. “Sorry, little bot. The boss is an asshole. She knows it. We know it.”

 _That_ _’s how the Rim works,_ I wanted to say. Because he was, all in all, a nice technician. But the most I could manage was, “Thank you, Technician Novotny.”

“And so well behaved, too. I wish more humans were like bots. So much easier to work with.”

 _I could flood the room with carbon dioxide,_ ART suggested.

 _What? Why?_ I had no idea what the transport was going on about. _Did you find the files Seth needed?_

_Just about. Yep, there they are._

_Try not to trigger any alarms._ Not that I would be able to do much of anything if ART managed to alert security somehow. Technically, I was security, but SecSystem had me locked out of most functions because I was here as a tool, not a weapon.

“All right, there we do.” The technician removed the cable from my data port. “Follow me, SecUnit.”

I did as I was told.

ART said, _I got the files. And some other stuff. I_ _’m going to override SecSystem now._

_Wait until the human leaves the room._

_Why?_ ART wanted to know.

_So he doesn’t get in trouble when you bust me out of here. Just trust me on that._

_Fine, but we’re watching Worldhoppers again as soon as you’re back on board._


End file.
